#I just realise both of my main ocs have names that start with J

[jovieinramshackle]

talent and quote for both jovie and jess!!

(more asks here!)

Oh this will be fun I get to drop some lore for both of them teehee

14. Talent: What is your twst OC's talent and who can properly appreciate that talent?

Jess:

Jess has a variety of skills, most of them having to do with singing, dancing or performing, as they used to participate in Beatuty Pegants and Competitions from a young age as requested by their mother.

But the one thing Jess grew to love enough to practice it even in their alone time is: making music.

Or music composition, more accurately, Jess found extreme comfort in music.

They first began making up random melodies in free apps at the age of 10, soon they started watching proper tutorials, and studying books online and had managed to create songs using the piano at their mother’s home by the time they were 13. Least to say, they had it in them.

Their mother had realised Jess creating their own songs would be an advantage during competitions, so they signed them up for training with a professional since they had the money for it. Hard-earned money Jess had won.

Over time, Jess found themselves losing their love for making music, as it had become another tool forced upon them by their mother to keep winning— the same thing that had happened with dancing, singing and even performing in general.

Jess can’t deny their talent though, and to their surprise, it proved to be quite useful during the SDC. It started with giving Vil mere suggestions on how to improve his song, then quickly escalated to them becoming the co-writer for it.

Due to that, Vil is the first to truly appreciate their talent and the first to know why Jess hid it, so much so that he felt guilty for also causing the song they had worked so hard on together to fail— along with the guilt of making the whole team lose.

If they had to be blunt, Jess would say they aren’t grateful for a lot of the things their mother had put them through. However, if those skills could be useful somehow, they’d be willing to put them to use. It’s important to take every chance that’s given to you, right?

Jovie:

Jovie’s talent is one fitting of someone with an artistic nature: Graphic Design.

Drawing, in general, too but the craft of creating visual content and representations was their speciality. Jovie had been drawing since they were very young— and with the combination of the witchy spell books inherited from their grandma that included a range of colourful symbols and designs— it’s no wonder Jovie grew a knack for design and art.

Colours, shapes, lines— Jovie loved them all. They loved playing around with them to create art, it’s one of the main ways she knew how to express themselves. Along with that, it was also useful to study and understand the old symbols in the books her ancestors had created for hexes and curses.

Her mother would always tell them the importance of visual representation. For witches, a written spell isn't enough to perform their spells, a symbol to go along with it is crucial to the process.

Now imagine their surprise when they used this talent to…help in designing a restaurant.

Menus, business cards, and other print materials— Once Jovie agreed to work with a certain octopus to help with his new lounge, they suddenly found themselves with a lot more work.

Not that they mind, despite the frustrations and complaints. More work meant more payment, whether it was monetary or practical.

As it were, Azul had found himself understanding what goes into designing on a deep level— from the thought process behind the decisions to seeing first-hand the frustration of an artist when their vision wouldn’t come out how they imagined it.

It intrigued him, in a way, and he developed a new profound appreciation for it. And besides— it’s only natural for a good employer to understand the work of his employees, right?

It's a fact visuals are how you catch someone's attention immediately, and a good visual will pique the person's curiosity, making them look even longer. They are vital if you want to attract people, and he couldn't deny that Jovie's work had done the job successfully.

16. Quote: Give me something your twst OC will say. Either something they always say or something iconic they said. Something that helps solve the problems or something that is a catalyst to even more issues.

Jess:

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP." - a common phrase they yell when everyone around them starts bickering and arguing like middle schoolers. Loud noises aren’t something that necessarily bothers Jess, but so many people yelling at once can truly get annoying, especially during serious situations.

"Remember when you told me I need to set a good example for my dorm members? Well, here I am, because a good leader never leaves their members behind, even if it's only one." - Jess to Riddle at STYX, trying to make him understand why they're the one that have to find Grim in Tartarus.

Jovie:

"I'm gonna kill him I'm gonna kill him I'm gonna-" - Just a little thing they mutter when Floyd won't cooperate with them, or whenever someone is being a huge nuisance, for that matter. You'll find them muttering it in her native language (Greek) a lot too. (fun fact I do that irl too).

"What-? No! I never hated the way you were back then, I loved you just as much as I love the way you are now!" - Said during a serious conversation between Jovie and Azul.

tagging: @ramshacklerumble @thehollowwriter @summerspook @scint1llat3 @skriblee-ksk @cyanide-latte (lmk if you wanna be added)

#I just realise both of my main ocs have names that start with J #Sorry for taking a bit with the asks my family won't leave me alone HDOAJZKAKDSI #twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #twst fanart #twst mc #twst yuu #twst ask game #vil schoenheit #azul ashengrotto #jess ariti #jovie j. jovinston #jovie's writing #jovie's art #ask me anything #moot ask

[wh00pwh00p]

@glupiypryanik THIS IS FOR YOU (n also a great excuse to info dump about my babies)

so i have technically 5 OC worlds (minus dnd characters), i say technically 5 because i post like 4 of them here??? the other one is mainly written so i dont have a lot of art of them. but i also have ideas for how id love to present these worlds in the future..... like making some into shows or comics (i probably wont ever do that bc time but one can dream)

im ganna cover them one world at a time from least to most info??? i think?? its a long one.... much longer than i thought.... (i might just keep adding as characters get more info n stuff)

Nova & Circus (doesn't have an actual name yet) :

Nova and circus are roommates n live in a world which is like a near future with lots of built up places heavily based on cities like Tokyo, Seoul, New York and LA in there too. very entertainment industry heavy. Nova is an Idol (i specifically draw from the aesthetics of J-pop idols and a little from K-pop idols) she is very busy all the time which leads to her being very tired when shes not doing work. she also very much enjoys her work and is relatively popular. Circus is a streamer but does like live radio type streams, he used to be a DJ and producer before he started his own thing and now he also helps produce some of Novas music. hes much better at doing his own thing and he doesnt work well with like strict schedules and such. do they have to live together? no, they both make more than enough to live separately and be pretty well off. are they living together because they are dating? maybe but dating is taken very seriously within the Idol scene and it could cause problems for both of them if they were dating, which they are definitely not doing (/s)

Heavens Finest :

oh Delilah. Heaven in this universe isn't somewhere for the dead but more so a place for angels, these angels have a normal working society where everyone is delegated jobs. Delilah was delegated the job of a guardian angel, guardian angels in this universe are the beings that give you a sense of safety, they are the beings that give you the impulse to look before crossing the road or to watch your step. Delilah is horrifically bad at this (partially on purpose). everyone Delilah is sent to keep safe dies within 2-3 business days because she's either gotten to work late or was far too preoccupied doing literally anything else than her job. however shes also the queen of weaponised incompetence, every time her boss threatens to move her to another sector she happily reminds them that she will screw up anything, anywhere, anytime and out of pure fear theyve had to keep her on. as Delilahs story continues her boss gives her an ultimatum: If the next person she guards dies within a week they will let her go. Delilah happily accepts however what she doesnt realise is that shes been assigned the stupidest yet seemingly invincible guy who just. wont. die. her story evolves from her passively letting people die to her straight up trying to kill this guy within a week.

Bp&I :

this universe is a pretty normal modern world filled with halloween monsters. Skeletons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, think of any classic scary monster n they are here. the main groups (the biggest groups) are: werewolves, vampires, skeletons, witches, zombies, demons, ghosts, sirens and ogres. sometimes (like a 1/1000 chance) a monster can have a seconds supernatural ability, these can be anything from turning invisible to being able to speak to cats. this universe exists alongside our own, for some this is their afterlife and for others our universe is a source of food (especially for vampires and sirens). another big part of this universe are the Fighting Tournaments. every month has a tournament on the last week of the month. these tournaments consist of one race (eg: an entire vampire tournament, an entire ghost tournament so on so on) this is primarily to do with the fact that some races are less or more effected by other races (eg: ghosts cant really be touched by non ghosts unless the ghost puts energy into being a physical thing and this also effects them using objects and such or vampires are more vulnerable to things like fire but demons are immune). these tornaments give non ranked fighters the ability to enter the ranked places. once a year their is a 'Ranked only' tournament which takes place over most of the month where the top 10 from each race compete to take each others rank. Rank 0s are the highest ranks and essentially run the world. Bloodpact is a vampire who also has the supernatural ability of a necromancer, shes able to bring back people she has drank from to act as undead slaves. Bp holds the 3rd spot within the vampire ranks, shes known for having an energetic and deeply chaotic personality and fighting style. her main weapon is a harley quin-esque hammer. Ink could not be further from Bp if they tried. Bp essentially picked Ink of the street to be their mentor. Ink is a ghost with the ability to shapeshift and has always wanted to be a high rank fighter after waking up here after dying. Ink is extremely chill n mildly worried about Bps caffeine addiction.

tbt the best way i can describe these two is 'Autism n ADHD solidarity' Bp may be Inks mentor but i think ink is objectively more responsible. Bp does also have a manager to keep her (and now Ink) on track in their activities.

The Bastards :

the name sounds mean but trust me they deserve it.

this story takes place on a planet which is made up of a single planet which is mainly desert but has some very large interconnected cities and towns within large bubble like structures which create almost fake environments. they can produce different types of weather and grow crops within them. however people do live outside of these bubbles, in the desert areas. this is a modern fantasy-esque space setting (a lot ik) think like Coruscant from star wars mixed with the envoriment in the Darling in the Franxx enviroment. large pockets of perfect land and infrastructure held within localised stationary domes the capability to mimic different enviroments and weather.

this is a rough idea of what its probably laid out like:

the agriculture domes are the least populated, dominated by fields and farms. these farms are able to produce most types of vegetation and can produce enough food for the vast majority of the planet.

main cities and sub cities have very high population densities (like i said think coruscant) minor cities are like the usual cities we have (think new york and london) the towns are less dense more like large sub urbs.

the smallest domes are either villages or business quarters.

the small red cubes/rectangles are settlements outside of the domes, these houses may seem to be of lower quality than the ones in the dome but theyre just much older and built for the desert conditions.

there is one main intergalactic ship dock far from the main urban areas however some of the outer dome settlements have their own landing zones for their own ships or to get deliveries

talon lives outside of the domes, he and his dad run a ranch with a focus in raising and breeding the older more traditional native breeds.

Heartstopper lives in the main city in a relatively nice penthouse gifted to her by her parents before they disowned her

cat scratch lives in the main city in a dingy basement apartment in the....not so nice parts of the main city Cat Scratch, Talon and Heartstopper all despise each other.

(arrows pointing to someone is why they hate the person its pointing to, it was just far easier to put into a diagram.)

all three of them have become bounty hunters due to life circumstances and had a pretty bad kill on sight mentality towards each other however one day they are essentially arrested and given the choice to either go to jail for the rest of their lives or become a unit to fight more dangerous crime groups. as much as they all hate each other they all hated the idea of prison more.

now these characters are supposed to be bad people however i wanted to build them in a way that gave them stories which are just bad life circumstances or events and essentially what would happen if people neglect the fact that they are deeply effected by these things and continue to bottle it up and ignore it instead of... yk.... going to therapy. just keep this in mind as i explain them.

Cat Scratch was orphaned at a very young age, never stayed in one place for long and was always bouncing homes or families. all this contributed to them harbouring a pretty strong hatred towards the world, they blamed other people their entire life, never trusted anyone and became just very violent as an outcome. as previously mentioned they were bullied during school pretty heavily by talon n his group of goons TM which onl;y made this worse as she then had to physically fight these people. as they grew up they met new people, they met heartstopper (though she wasnt heartstopper then) and a guy who they both fell for. cat scratch believed they should have him and they did get him eventually even if it did destroy their friendship with heartstopper and required a few extra steps. this didnt last long however and eventually Cat Scratch had to make it by themselves... again. they turned to bounty hunting as it was profitable enough to keep them off the streets and... a good way to get some anger out...even if it was pretty violent.

Heartstopper had a pretty good upbringing, her family was upper class and were relatively wealthy and yes maybe she had to fight for attention sometimes between her and her multiple siblings but it was never bad. she always had a knack for lying though, just little white lies here and there and pocketing a couple small things here and there (only a stick of gum or a lipstick here and there). she grew up got a good education, great grades and eventually a good job with even better money and met new people. she met cat scratch and a guy they both fell for. heartstopper knew they both had the same feeling but he obviously chose her and she hoped that cat scratch understood that. a little bit later and they were engaged and happy. only what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life became the beginning of the end. he never turned up. not only did he never turn up but no less than a week later sensitive private images, videos, messages were suddenly not so private. the emails to her work, the lies within these emails lined with sensitive content were the final straw. her family had turned their backs on her, her job had let her go and frankly she had nothing else. these things were her life. she had no money, no life and no aspirations so she said fuck it and became a bounty hunter... a much less violent one but a snake in long grass type. if lies were so easily spread about her, then why not everyone else.

Talon would tell you he had a normal upbringing, he didnt. hid mother left when he was very young and has only ever lived with his dad on their ranch. talons dad isnt exactly a good person, pretty horrible honestly, a notorious bigot but talon didnt see that at the end of the day he was his dad and that was all he had. par a few animals and his bird, rogue, obviously. talon knew he was different. not really because of his physical appearance, horns n tails were rather common at his school but inwardly he was conscious about something. it annoyed him when he saw people who were seemingly comfortable in their skin and cat scratch was one of them. it annoyed him that they would walk around as if they had nothing to lose, how theyd look at others with disgust as if they felt like they were above others. one day he and his friends, admittedly, got a little too rough. turned out this cat has much sharper claws than they thought. the next thing talon was aware of was lightning like pain stemming from his spine and the fact that it ceased as soon as he screamed in pain as if they realised he was awake and stopped. after the pain he realised he couldnt notice anything else, he couldnt see anything else. later hed be told his eyesight was unrecoverable and that his previously tan complexion and brunette hair were now stark white and his horns and spines a silver colour. as shit as it is to loose your eyes you get used to it, you find other means of navigating, for talon it was rogue. like a guide bird if you will. she even helped with using firearms, some things were off the table but if he could set up a place to camp out rogue helped with aiming and guiding him on where to shoot through sound or touch. as talon grew up he learned to ignore the feeling that he was different, as his dad grew old he took on more responsibilities around the ranch and just didnt have time to think about it anymore. money got tight a couple times and talon decided he needed to pick up a side hustle... a bounty hunter would probably make just enough.

as the story of the bastards develops they learn to trust and understand each other. they learn that at the end of the day theres not much they can do except to strive to be better.

key story moments include cat scratch almost dying due to their own reckless behaviour and having to trust the other members to not let them die and thank them for helping when they could have let them die on the mission, heartstopper fully breaking down on a mission and admits that she barely knows who she is anymore after the others confront her on her lying and manipulation of other people leading to her having to revaluate her life and open up to those around her and talon finally finds out why hes always felt different after meeting cyrus and falling pretty horrifically in love with him over the course of a short stay during a mission and having to recon with the fact that this could destroy everything hes ever known and being backed by the others in accepting himself and what he wants.

these guys are little shits but they get better n i love them, they are definitely the most in depth characters i have along with being the most depressing but i enjoy playing with the nature vs nurture aspect of terrible people yk and how some of them can get better if they only had good friends and/or therapy (dont worry i will send these idiots to therapy once theyve finished their main stories)

if you got this far heres a pic of one of my cats :3

#my silly lil guys #original character #oc #my ocs

[thequibblah]

⭐ honestly there are so many things that I'd likevto ask which is why I want to ask a broaderish question.. How do you approach the characterisation of your "Main cast"? I think you have created some really great complex characters even though they do not exist in canon or even fanon (Germaine in example)

I hope this isn't too broad lol

no, i don't think it's too broad! just let me know if my answer doesn't actually touch on what you were wondering about haha

character creation for me tends to be spontaneous rather than conscious — i.e. i'm just writing my way through a scene and i'm like anyway, these people are new and they're friends or they're dating or they hate each other, and there's rarely a ton of forethought put into it. the vast majority of the ct cast was like that, i would say, except possibly michael, who was the first love interest i invented so there was a little more intention there

(but other than him i was really pulling things out of nowhere for the rest of the students especially — including with emmeline which sometimes surprises me)

the exception is, of course, the main cast. they and sara were very intentional, and i wrote little bio thingies for them before i started even outlining the fic. i mean the non-canon main cast, of course, lol — mary, dorcas (they're both canon but i've invented virtually everything about them, so), and germaine.

i did actually do a lot of hemming and hawing about how many girls there would be in lily's year in gryffindor. as discussed in a previous "my beef with j/k/r" instalment on this blog, the numbers of the hogwarts population really don't make sense at all, so i knew i could be flexible and kind of hand wave any questionable bits away. but the composition of the gryffindor girls was crucial in deciding lily's characterisation, imo — an easy way to convey implied characterisation is to show someone in contrast to the people around them. so: who is lily within the context of her friend group? is she friends with all the girls she rooms with?

separately, i've always liked writing friends in groups of four. in the planning stage of this i was like urghhh it's four girls, the four marauders, is that like too perfect....... and one thing i HATED was that people could then map on each marauder to each girl (lily = james is a bit questionable, though i firmly believe they're much more alike than they seem, but it kind of works.... mary = sirius, dorcas = remus, germaine = peter). and i didn't, and don't, want to make it seem like i've just made vaguely distinct female versions of each marauder!

i've made my peace with that risk, of course, and i think each of the girls is significantly different from "their marauder" (LOL) that it's actually fine — and, better still, if that thought occurs to anyone i hope that their characterisations will go on to provide interesting nuance to the parallels

but, anyway, tangent aside, i love groups of four because i think basically all my life i've had groups-of-four friendships. to absolutely go to bat for us foursomes, it's nice because no single person is the obvious odd one out, and each combination in pairs brings something different to the table — the role that doe plays in the group of four at large, for instance, isn't exactly the same as who she is in her individual friendship with mary, lily, or germaine.

the three main cast members came of some very clinical answers to those initial questions about lily.

one, i have always liked having mary be one of lily's friends, and in my characterisation of her she's obviously a great foil to lily, as a fellow muggle-born student. so, she was a lock.

two, i wanted to write one other canon order character, but i didn't want it to be marlene because in my reading of her canon mention, lily is unlikely to write a letter to sirius with her full name (paraphrasing but "i was so upset when marlene mckinnon died, i cried for ages") or, indeed, write a letter discussing how sad marlene's death made her, if they were besties and schoolmates. i went with dorcas because why the hell not? in developing her i then added all these thoughts

three, i felt the need to make up an oc so i could have absolute freedom over their fate. i had certain preconceived notions about mary and dorcas and what their stories would be, so there were other things (e.g. playing quidditch) that i wanted to have a friend of lily's do that they couldn't. plus, i wanted to write a massive lesbian.

another little sticking point, though, was that i (for a very SHRUG?? reason) didn't want lily to be besties with everyone she's lived with, but i didn't want to insert a catty rival into her dorm either. (now, don't get me wrong, i do love a good rival. i did, after all, write mary and amelia, and i am a known appreciator of carlotta meloni, and i adore TLE's marlene mckinnon. but i wanted the gryffindor girls to be like lily's safe space — a contrast both to her home life and to her recently-strained friendship with snape, where she's spent some time having to second-guess herself a lot. in my mind her friendships with all three of her besties coalesced at various points organically, until she was like wow wait i do actually have a home base here.)

the compromise was someone who was friendly with lily, but there's no strain on that friendship to be more than it is — which, sara and lily respect each other but have also learned they're not so alike that they need to hang out all the time. sara, to lily, is the girl you do things with because you're schoolmates, and then once you're out of school you amicably drift apart and occasionally leave a nice comment on their instagram

so that was how the gryffindors coalesced in my mind as placeholder figures. i will fully confess i start with tropes and then work out ways to deconstruct them or complicate them — as i've talked about in multiple of these questions, i think a lot of my characters are caught between sticking to their perceived label and acting the way they want to, aka the ripest high school drama fodder known to humankind

Wearing a fake smile and watching her sister’s sickening love life had put things in perspective a little. Why should she always do what was expected of her?

(we construct ourselves in contrast to those around us....)

mary started off as boy-crazy, doe started off as idealistic, and germaine started off as struggling to find her place. then i built up from those foundations, adding in tropey bits i enjoyed and wanted to engage with — i wanted doe to be passionately principled, but the gentler counterpart to mary, and even-tempered where lily runs hot. i wanted germaine to be a little bit thoughtless, changeable, someone utterly herself but still uncomfortable in her own skin. knowing, then, that the other two were going to be, how shall i put it, gentler hearts (LOL), i went back to mary and decided she would have this tough-girl, queen-bee persona.

then doe got her family background, which added in her ambitions and hinted at her future, and made it so her foundation would be threatened by events of the story. obviously i was writing mary in the aftermath of the mulciber/avery incident, so i needed to ask how much her take-no-shit vibe was threatened by it — and if not, why? how? unsurprisingly, even to people like amelia...

“At least I’m not overflowing with insecurity,” said Amelia. Mary laughed. The sound echoed through the courtyard. “We both know that’s not true.”

...the persona is put-on, but the "real mary" is so caught up in the invented mary that even she couldn't hope to uncover an authentic self...nor would she necessarily want to, because her affected self is still her...

wait don't get me started

germaine was already a quidditch player, and i wanted her to be a seeker because that's automatic investment in perhaps the single player with the most impact on the game — crucial for what i knew would be many, many quidditch sequences, where james wasn't always the most important pov! some of that seekery vibe leeched into who she is: she's searching, right from the start, for a sense of self that feels just out of reach:

“This year is going to be a year of change,” Germaine said [...] “Henceforth I will be going by... Gemma.” The girls looked at one another for a beat. Then Lily, Doe, and Mary burst into laughter.

she's more anxious and outwardly uncertain than her friends, and i wanted to consciously engage with that — proper teenage awkwardness, the kind that wouldn't really happen to Main Character lily, I Have No Sense of Shame mary, and I Am Overflowing with Good Sense doe. more than the other three, germaine is a normal person in the context of this world — she's not a muggleborn, so the war has a different impact on her; she's not the child of activists; she's not well-off. an absolutely spontaneous invention that i was really quite thrilled by was having her sister be crouch's secretary, because it's such a sudden, shocking realisation for her that she's got such a close connection in the thick of it

Germaine clapped a hand over her mouth. “Big news soon,” she mumbled. “Big news soon, that’s what Abigail said, only she didn’t say what big news…”

so germaine is really just... living her life, an indie coming of age film in which her friends' subplot is a fucking war LOL

i defined germaine in contrast to the other girls a lot when drawing out the characters for myself, mostly for a practical reason — i didn't want her to overlap too strongly with any of them, since she's the only one who's wholly my invention. i think some of that remains in her characterisation, but i decided to make it conscious instead:

Germaine saw herself as a happy medium, flexible enough to stretch sympathetically between her friends. But— What does it mean that I define myself in comparison to them? Nothing. She was only seventeen and she was finding her way.

i knew germaine was going to get the chaotic sporty romance pretty much right off the bat, but, fun fact, i hadn't actually picked out who her love interest would be until after i started spitballing other sixth years' names and had a basic idea of who emmeline was. wild!

i feel like i haven't said all i want to say but let's stop there or i'd go on forever, ha!

#director's cuts #ask me #anon

[justanotheronechicagofan]

Previous Chapter 

10. Elephants 

series summary - Will the Halstead brothers be able to reconnect with their sister after 5 years? chapter summary - the Halstead reunion continues Madeline Halstead (oc), Will Halstead, Jay Halstead, Mouse [mentioned]  TW - pregnancy related death 

series masterlist  | main masterlist

Madeline basked in the warmth, feeling her roots revitalising as their chatter enveloped her, a sense of tribe, a much missed shield. Still, It seeped in corroding the cocoon.

It. An unwanted guest - never leaving, always looming. Ready to creep, sprinkling in doubt, threatening to ruin… well, anything. They won’t like them. A decorated hero turned detective and a doctor. They like boxes, they like lines, they like nor-

“Babe, just tell them already!” she could hear Jess’ laughter. Angelic against Its coils.“You’ve got this! They all love them, what’s different this time?”

But what if they don’t Jess? What if they lea-

"-addie, you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry" The brothers watched Madeline flash a smile. They didn't miss her tenseness, the way she clasped her trembling hands onto her teacup. The siblings were glad at the more smoother than expected reunion but they all knew of the certain elephants they couldn’t ignore. They decided to ride out the silence. 

Finally, she broke the quiet. “I uh- I need to tell you guys something. Something important” That phrase paired with her expression would have warranted teasing from the brothers followed by Madeline's bursts of laughter. Something related to getting seconds of ice cream or wanting a second dog perhaps. But this wasn't 5 years ago. 

Madeline bore into them, searching as if their eyes laid a hint of what their reactions would be. Both brothers tried for a reassuring smile, hoping to pass this sudden test she had put them on. Jay hadn't felt this level of nervousness, if ever - which was saying something considering he sat across from _the worst _of what Chicago had to offer everyday - he felt as if she didn't like what she found, there would be another five years lost. 

When she seemed satisfied, Madeline spoke, “Jay- you’ve met but uh I don’t think I introduced him. Not officially anyway. And Will, you haven’t met yet but,” she took a deep breath and beamed, “I have a son. His name is Nathan, Nate … He’s 3 and I love him, more than anything in the world. I know- sounds corny but it’s true” Her expression was undeniable.

Will was elated. He had heard from Jay that night when the detective had stumbled into his apartment - “Will, she was right there. And there’s this kid, the cutest kid man. He called her mama… Fuck - Will, she had a kid and we weren’t there” - still, he could count the times he had been this happy. The brothers knew that after half a decade apart, it would be a gamble if their little sister would want them to be in her life let alone her family’s. Will hoped that her telling them was a good sign - maybe some sort of invitation that would lead to him becoming an uncle… He realised he had just been sitting there - smiling like an idiot - and rushed to congratulate but was stopped by Madeline's shake of her head.

"Please. J-just let me- I need to tell you this" Madeline breathed out, her eyes dripping with something they couldn't quite place. 

Jay recognised the mint green envelope that she pulled out of her purse. She opened it and laid out a photograph on the table, her movements so careful as if the slightest jolt would would make it evaporate. 

They immediately recognised Madeline - younger and thinner - sat on a sofa, mid laughter with a young woman in the middle. The woman reflecting Madeline (who Jay guessed was in her early 20's at most) had blonde hair, glowing skin and a growing bump to match. She was snuggled against a similarly aged man with dark brown skin who lovingly gazed at her as he held her close.

"Danny took this one, it's one of my favourites," her eyes crinkled at the memory. "That's Ty and Jess - they're family y'know. Really helped me out" 

Jay recognised that look even through her misting eyes - it was one he had seen many times before - the look Nadia and Erin had when they had talked about each other. 

Madeline continued, "Jess and I - we were so close, like sisters. And people used to think we were cause of our eyes," she shared a wistful smile, pausing as her baby pink nails traced the edges of the photograph. 

Jay furrowed his eyebrows at the past tense - were they no longer friends? did this 'Ty' have something to do with it? had this ‘Jess’ just upped and left? 

When she looked up, her eyes were filled with pride, "Nate ... he was a preemie, nearly 2 months early. But healthy considering - 4 lbs, 6oz." 

A smile touched the brothers' eyes as they imagined their little sister, a part of that precious moment. But it faded away at her features starting to cloud. 

"But Jess-," Madeline started as if on rote, her agony seeping through her blankness, "-she had complications and they took her for an emergency c section-” 

Jay recognised that look as she trailed off. It was one he was all too familiar with - the one he couldn’t hide. Hoping to be the anchor Will and now Hailey were, Jay shifted closer to her where she was fiddling with her bracelet.  

Madeline jerked, blinking herself back to the banquette. She took a shaky breath and continued, "Before they took her, I was so scared y’know?” Jay couldn’t take his little sister’s gaze as it crushed his spirit.

Her eyes empty, she shared a hollow laugh, “But she was laughing … told me to chill out, that she'd be back with Nate before I knew it-” She braved a tight smile, hoping to smother the pain. Knowing it never did. It didn’t matter that every syllable had been rehearsed, imprinted in her mind - Madeline always wished she could pause at Jess, beaming before they wheeled her away, before they- 

The brothers held a breath as they realised where this was heading. Will had seen one too many of these cases even working in the ED. The ones where what should be a happy occasion would turn into one of much grief - the ones where more often than not, they couldn’t give answers. 

“They said she lost too much blood- t-that there was nothing they could do.”

“Jess- she never got to hold him” 

They saw the blame laced with confusion. The waves of emotions she had fought to surf, the numbers of tears she had shed, the days she had clung onto to arrive at this exact place with her grief. They saw it all. They knew the power of the nightmare those two sentences held. It was too great. 

Will found himself thanking God in that moment. He didn’t know what to feel about that. Or in fact any of it. Guilty for being thankful that it had been the friend that was struck with the ultimate misfortune? Or was it because he let this happen to her, his little sister in the first place? Maybe it was both. Or was it relief? None of that changes anything. He could hear in the back of his mind. None of that changes the fact that you failed her.

Jay didn’t know what to say. Having done one too many notifications and witnessed the tragedy that came with the job, he knew. That no apology would be enough. Probably better than none though he thought. But everything about one just sounded phoney. Because in the end, it wouldn’t change the fact that he hadn’t been there. That he had failed her. All he could bring himself to say was,

“What’s he like?” 

“Nate? He has Ty’s eyes y’know. So Much life in them. And he has this laugh … you have to hear him, it’s just like Jess’ - it lightens everything. Oh and he’s silly and hilarious, just like his Dad … has the biggest heart … he’s just amazing.” 

You have to meet him, I want you to. She wanted to say. Madeline didn’t know why she felt as if she had to make an appeal of Nate. You’ve done this before - why all this now? she thought. But she knew, that this was different. Because this was Jay and Will. 

As he listened to Madeline beam about her son, Jay couldn’t help but replay the all too short meeting he had at her porch that day. And before he could swallow it back, it slipped out, 

“Can we meet him?” Shit. That was way too soon. 

But his growing doubt came to a halt as soon as Madeline’s features lit up. “Y-Yeah? For real? You want to?” 

“Maddie, heck yeah! Of course we do” The brothers’ reply didn’t do justice for how truly, undeniably happy they were. 

See? Told ya Madeline heard Jess’ smile. She breathed again,_ It_ silenced. Madeline couldn’t put a word to it but it felt great, something like relief and ecstasy rolled into one. But she wasn’t done yet. She still had another brother to ask about … 

"And Mousey?” 

Will gave a cautious glance, knowing how much it hurt his little brother to see his best friend go. 

Jay chuckled at that nickname. He hadn’t heard that one in a while, “He went back about 2 years ago, comms specialist”

“Really?" 

“Mmhh. Do you remember the sergeant we used to tell you about? Well, he put a unit together and he reached out to Mouse” Jay smiled, proud. 

With the same admiration as when she was little, Madeline spoke, “Seriously? That’s awesome! That unit’s lucky they have him. And … he’s okay?” Will noticed the look his younger siblings shared - he wondered if it had something to do with that one and only phone call he ever got from Pat while he was in New York. 

“Mads, He’s good, spoke to him about a month ago - I should probably call him again soon though” Tell him you’re finally home, safe. 

“Yeah? That’s great. Maybe I’ll join you, make it a surprise? Oh! And do you know his address? I want to send him something. Samoas and Cinnamon Crunch right? And jerky. Wait… or was that your thing?”

Jay smiled at her chatter, “No, he likes ‘em too Mads. And yeah, I’ll text you everything - Man, he is gonna freak out when he hears you.” He was surprised that Madeline had remembered those little details because even though the nightmares chased him, being overseas felt like another life ago. He guessed in a way it was. Will couldn’t help but feel a pang as he was reminded yet again of how his sister who was barely in school at the time knew more about Jay’s time with the Rangers than him. 

“Good. I missed him” she shared a sweet smile before it turned into a mischievous grin. “So?”

“Yes Madeline?” Will amused, raising his eyebrows. 

She huffed in return, “C’mon! All I know so far is that Jay’s a detective in a district with a nice sergeant and that you work in the Emergency Room in the same hospital as Connor which who kne-”

“Hang on ‘nice’? Which district did you go to?” Jay joked. There was one thing everyone agreed on at the 21st district - Trudy Platt although one of the best cops in the city, nice was not the first word that came to mind. 

“Yeah, Sergeant Platt” she stated as if it was the most obvious. 

“Pretty sure this is the first and last time I’ll ever hear Platt and nice in the same sentence - the less I have to interact with her the better.” Will dramatically shuddered before laughing with the others. 

“But seriously, stop avoiding my question.” Madeline mocked annoyance. 

Will jokingly put his hands up. “Alright, alright,” He straightened up and announced “Well Maddie, I have a girlfriend. Her name’s Natalie-”

“About damn time too. He’s been pining after her for how long? since you started there?" Jay smirked. 

“Ooooh. So she’s at Gaffney’s too? Is she a doctor? Or a nurse? What’s she like?” 

Will’s eyes crinkled at her curiosity. “Yeah, we work in the ED together - she’s a doctor too. Natalie’s great, I think you’ll like her. Hang on -” he paused, fumbling with his phone. “She can’t wait to meet you by the way.” He added before giving her his screen. 

It was a selfie taken in a park or maybe a garden. Will’s girlfriend ‘Natalie’ was white and had shoulder length brunette hair - there was something kind in her eyes as she laughed. Probably to one of Will’s Really Bad jokes… Madeline amused. She’s pretty … I’m loving that top, maybe I’ll ask her where it’s from. Madeline chuckled at her eldest brother’s grin as he held her close. There was only one word to describe his expression - Smitten. 

When she swiped to the next picture, she was pretty sure her heart stopped. It was probably taken a few seconds after the first one and everything else was the same except from one unmissable detail. Madeline zeroed in on the toddler now in Natalie’s arms. Crap, I waited too late. Did I miss becoming an aunt?! How old is he? Maybe like two? 

Will laughed at her shocked beyond belief expression. “You’re not an aunt just yet Tiny. He’s Natalie’s son but hoping that down the road y’know …” He trailed off, giving a lopsided smile. 

“You are SO in love with her” she teased before turning her attention to … “Jay?”

“Good luck” Will laughed. “Even if there is someone, he’s not sharing - Believe me Maddie, I’ve tried.” 

“Uh-huh. Like I believe that. C'mon there's no one?” She tried again, now putting the puppy eyes on max. 

“Nope.” Jay smiled and she couldn’t tell if he was lying - she never could to be honest. Damn his Ranger training. She was about to let it go but she saw Will raise his eyebrows and take a sip of his mug.

So there is someone she smirked. 

As he looked at the row of townhouses standing impressive against the dusking sky, Jay wondered what this place was to his little sister. He had barely resisted the urge to ask the whole less than 5 minute drive to this street. The not knowing was honestly killing him but he heard his partners voice, “She’ll come home Jay.” He smiled, hugging Madeline. Guess I’ll have to follow Hails on this one too.

Watching his younger siblings hugging, Will smiled. Our family’s back. Maybe he hadn’t let himself get there but it was clear to him now how much he had craved it. He squeezed her tight, feeling that missing part of his soul starting to be found. And as he watched her walk through the gate, he made a promise right there and then - He wasn’t going to let go. Not this time.

Walking up the stone steps, Madeline couldn’t hide her grin at her body full with that warm cozy feeling. That’s got to be one of the best days ever. Replaying bits of the long awaited catch up, she chuckled at Will calling her Tiny - a nickname she almost forgot about and hated when she had turned a teen - she now realised how much she missed it. 

The brothers drove back in silence for a while and when Jay heard Will say,

“She didn’t ask about Dad.”

He nodded and stared ahead. That was an elephant he was unwilling to touch. Not yet anyway. 

                                            💙✨🦋✨💙

A/N - The characters belong to Dick Wolf and are from the One Chicago universe he created. Thank you so much for reading! This chapter was really difficult for me to write and at one point I considered deleting the whole series but I kept at it and about 4 months later here we are ;) This one touched on a really heavy topic but I hope I was able to do it justice and that you enjoyed it. I’m still not sure how I feel about it but I think this is the best I can hope for in this chapter - let me know what you think 💗

#halstead brothers #will halstead #jay halstead #halstead sister #tw: pregnancy related death

[the-darklings]

—𝗖𝗢𝗔 𝗙𝗔𝗤;

Hello, everyone! So with COA being such a long-running series and new readers finding it constantly, I have come to realise that a lot of questions I get often repeat. So to keep everything easy and clear and friendly for everyone regardless of whether you started COA at the very beginning of the story or just recently found it, I have spent the day relaxing, eating junk food, and compiling this FAQ. Please read through it because chances are the answers are here somewhere. I have sectioned the guide into following: general, story, ships, original squad (OCs), AUS, OC!V and tips/advice. If the answer to your question is not here, please feel free to send me a message and have a wonderful day! <33 - kat.

GENERAL:

when does this story update?

I try to keep a bi-weekly schedule (now usually Sunday updates). But I always let you know when the chapter is done by making a final word count post (pre edits). 

do you have a masterlist?

yes, you can find it here.

do you have a tag list?

not for COA. they’re very time consuming and I’m already really busy sorry :(

are your requests open?

I rarely open my inbox for requests. the only exception being the monthly blurb nights. then I reblog a prompt list and let people send some requests in for any fandom/ship. however, usually due to how many I get, it only happens every few months. that being said, you can still send me ideas/suggestions and if it inspires me, I will write it. that’s how the majority of the AUs have come about. but i’m also a very busy person so sorry if I can’t. 

can I make X or Y for COA and tag you?

yes. yes. yes. please, please, feel free to create whatever for COA (no matter how small or silly) because I consider it a great honour that I’ve been able to inspire someone else. whatever it is, please tag me. I wanna see.

okay, I made a thing and tagged you but you didn’t respond :(

Tumblr is notorious for eating my notifs. whatever it is (art/post/etc) if I don’t respond to it in a day or two, please give me a nudge. you’re not being annoying, I promise. chances are I missed it/tumblr ate it. 

I wanna scream/discuss/theorise about COA with others, is there any way for me to do that?

my amazing readers have set up this reddit page that is full of lovely people, theories, and memes etc. I check it often and interact on there, too, so feel free to drop by.

STORY:

how many chapters will COA be?

25. the last one being a very long epilogue.

have you decided on the ending yet?

yes. from as early as part 2. it's barely changed since. 

will we ever see more of Prague/Naples? hoe, please say yes.

yes. I plan to write both as COA bonus stories after the main story-line concludes.

will there be a sequel? 

depends. on two things: 1) if anyone will even care by that point 2) time. this story has consumed 5 months of my life entirely. i’ve been incredibly strict with myself when it comes to writing it (in a good way) but at best it won’t be finished till the end of august/beginning of september. so likely even if I do, there will be a break for a few months at least. I do have ideas though.

you promised us smut. where is it?

patience is a virtue. ;)

happy ending or tragedy? (please don’t say tragedy, you monster)

I would describe it more as “bittersweet” but whether it leans more towards bitter or sweet you’ll have to see.   

SHIPS:

any endgame hints?

you know more about the ending than you probably realise

can v/s finally go to Paris? for the love of GOD? pLEASE?

no

hector + v? powerful. will there be more of them in the future? 

agreed & yes. hector and v have their own arc to go on. it’s actually one of my favourites in this story. I don’t want to say more than that right now because I have plans for their dynamic so no spoilers. :)

please stop bullying john. give us some j/v content please? 

i, for one, adore john. it’s team S that’s bullying him lol. but wait till parabellum. i’ve always referred to that portion of the story as the second coming of j/v.

does lucien actually have a thing for v or is it a creepy obsession? 

it’s both.

I ship v with everyone :/ is that bad?

the sky is the limit. ship all the things proudly (but seriously, no, it isn’t. I ship all the ships, too, and that’s the fun of it) 

v/elder tho? 👀

🔫🤡

j/v or s/v? be honest.

you fool,,,, you buffoon. ot3 j/v/s is where it’s really at. imagine their POWER.   

ORIGINAL SQUAD:

what do the Elites/Lovers look like/how old are they?

please refer to this

will there be more step??

of course. he’s my baby. :)

will we see more of camorra/learn more about the elite’s and their backstories?

while I would love to take the time and flesh them all out with full backstories, only hector will be getting his backstory explored in the main canon because plot.

does lucien care for mika anymore or has he replaced her with v?

lucien is a messy hoe. mika is his subject of “affection” but v is his foil and equal. he recognises the same hurt in her that he has gone through himself so it’s more of a fixation. with time, lucien would likely destroy v so no bueno. 

I ship our OCs.

I do, too.

can we write about your OCs/V?

so you would have to come to me and discuss this more in private but I’m fine with this sort of thing usually. in fact, a prequel hector story already exists so you’re likely good but please contact me first. 

AUs:

when/how often do you update the vampire!au?

whenever I have time/inspo. mainly time. so this means you can get it daily or not get it for several weeks because COA is priority. I keep you all updated on when I have something cooking tho.

what is the actual pairing for vamp!au?

undecided as of yet. i’m leaning more towards ot3 right now but we shall see.

how often do you update flowing in me?

same as the above. whenever I have the time but I will keep you updated.

how many parts will flowing in me be?

I have 5 parts(ish) planned.

do you have a tag list for flowing in me?

I will. please leave a comment on the story if you want to be tagged in future parts!

will flowing in me feature other characters (john, winston etc.)?

this story is mainly camorra-centric but I do plan for John to appear at some point.

how did you come up with your lore in vamp!au?

to be completely honest....I just wrote a bunch of stuff down and used what stuck. mostly the ideas were pulled out of thin air while still trying to keep within the spirit of the canon material (the high priest, the holy church, the twelve priests, john being the boogeyman etc). camorra as the natural enemy seemed fitting and santino as a vampire prince even more so.

can we send you new au ideas/expand on old ones (manager!V etc)?

yes, always. I always try my hardest to reply but ofc I can’t promise I’ll be able to use them all but thank you in advance.

OC!V:

who is the face claim for OC!V?

weronika spyrka

what is her real name?

clara

how old is she at the beginning of the story and now?

23 beginning of chapter 1, 30 beginning of chapter 4 (current timeline)

will/would you ever write an original story about her?

I have considered creating something original out of COA itself or one of its sister series/concepts (like FIM). since I really started working on COA during last year’s NaNo, that might be the time I create something original this year. 

TIPS & ADVICE:

how do you write so much, so quickly?

I don’t think that word count is really reflective of the quality work itself. I don’t think you should worry how much you write, either. 100 words can be just as valuable as 1k. most of them time I have a deadline breathing down my neck and I do work well under pressure so that inspires me to force the chapters out. I also do very long days because despite what it might look like I’m not a fast writer.

how can I improve my writing?

read and practice. I know it’s dumb and overused advice but it’s how I learned english and found my style (still a mess and WIP) but still this advice does help. 

how do you keep motivated?

spite, your support, genuine adoration for these characters/word, a lot of spite. 

do you plan? outline?

I have a vague story outline with specific scenes in mind as I go along (helps to set up foreshadowing, twists, and those ‘full circle’ moments). I also plan each chapter scene by scene and know what each chapter is meant to accomplish. So yeah in a sense. 

#i will add more in the future if it comes to mind #with this future parts coming up i imagine more questions will repeat lol #faq post #fic: children of ares

[insfiringyou]

BTS - Missing You (Jungkook x Young-soon)

Contains: Fluff. Smut. Angst. Mentions of cheating. 

A series of events between Jungkook and his girlfriend Young-soon (OC), set at various points between the events of ‘A Phone Call’ and ‘Jin’s Wedding’ as they try to come to terms with the mistake that Jungkook made a few months before and what this means for their future together. 

This is a major chapter in our headcanon universe (find out more about our headcanon universe plot and characters here).

To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here: RM   /   Jin /   Suga /   J-Hope   /   Jimin   /   V   /   Jungkook

& Our full masterlist can be found here

Rated content below the cut

PART ONE 

She had said she needed space and, despite how it pained him not to message her or look at his phone frantically every time it pinged, he had done just that. He was surprised one evening, a few weeks after they had spoken on the phone, to find she had texted him asking whether he had remembered to pay off his part on their shared credit card before the interest rate kicked in, but he tried not to read too much into this. She had always looked out for him and it was more than likely she had set a reminder on her phone for when the bill was due. He had sat through a group dinner, organised by the oldest member and his girlfriend a week later, without much luster. While Yoongi was unsurprisingly absent, the others had come with their partners and questions on the whereabouts of his own were quickly dodged and forgotten. 

A few days later, while he was drying himself off from the shower, his phone rang, catching him off guard when he read her name on the screen. Fifteen minutes later, after hastily dressing in a daze, he was pulling up at the edge of a side road behind a blue Renault, its hazard lights flashing. 

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asked as the passenger door was pulled open, a cold stream of morning air hitting him in the otherwise cosy vehicle. 

“Yeah.” Young-soon muttered cautiously. “The car was squeaking the whole way, and when I pulled over, it wouldn’t start again.” As she climbed into the car, Jungkook observed her office attire; a black skirt which framed the curves of her hips and backside, paired with a flattering white blouse. He quickly looked away. “Thanks for picking me up, no one I work with lives this side of the city.” She quickly explained, clearly embarrassed. 

Jungkook shook his head, it was nothing. “Shouldn’t we wait with the car?” He asked, gesturing towards the blue vehicle. 

“The break down company is on its way…” 

“Did you give them the right licence plate?” He asked automatically, an old memory tugging at the back of his mind. He pushed it away as she rolled her eyes with a smile. 

“If I’m late to work again my boss will put me on a warning.” She explained with a sigh as he started the engine and pulled away from the curb, rejoining the rush-hour traffic at the end of the street where it joined the main road. 

He frowned. “Have you had a lot of time off recently?”

The short silence which followed made his heart sink as he realised the cause of her absences. 

“I’m sorry I missed the dinner…” She eventually said. “Min-seo invited me by text.”

The apologetic tone of her voice told him she was serious and he couldn’t help the thud of his heart. 

“I told them you were sick.” He said, not knowing if this was the right thing to do. A pause filled the air. 

“Do they know?” She asked. 

“I didn’t know what to tell them.” He shrugged, feeling pathetic as another silence stretched out. “It’s this way isn’t it?” He nodded towards another side street. 

“Take a right.” She confirmed as he indicated and carefully turned the corner, avoiding a stream of pedestrians on their way to work. 

“They’ve not been paying much attention to me anyway.” He murmured as they passed a row of tall offices, trying to maneuver the car through the rows of tightly packed parked cars. 

“Why?” She asked interestedly. 

“Yoongi’s girlfriend broke up with him.”

“Oh.” She hesitated. “I didn’t know he was dating.”

“Neither did we.” He shrugged. “I kind of thought...I saw him with a girl, but…” He trailed off, not knowing how to explain the surprise he was witnessed at the theatre, over half a year before. 

“Is he okay?” She asked softly. 

“He’s just getting on with things.” He paused. “But I don’t think so.” He finished, honestly. 

The woman beside him fell silent for a moment before asking. “And how about you?”

He turned to look at her, meeting her gaze for a moment with big, brown eyes, before turning back to the road. His heart was jackhammering in his chest, suddenly realising that this could be it. “Does that mean you’ve come to a decision?”

“Kook…” She whispered sadly. 

“What I did…” He felt a lump rise in his throat as he tried to explain, needing her to know. “I can’t take it back…but you don’t know how much I want to.”

“Me too…” She agreed wistfully. 

He felt his eyes sting and blinked fiercely, trying to clear his vision as he pleaded. “I don’t want us to be over…I don’t.”

“I know.” She said quietly. 

He fought on, knowing if he didn’t say it now, he might not get another chance. “I know you don’t love me right now and I can’t expect you to...but do you think you ever could?” He asked. 

She took a moment to reply, wiping the corner of her eye. “If I didn’t love you, this wouldn’t be so hard…” She admitted, her own voice trembling. He met her gaze once more and saw that her eyes were glimmering with tears. He wanted nothing more than to reach for her, to take her hand in his. 

“Keep your eyes on the road.” She warned softly. 

“Sorry.” He muttered, turning back to the street. He took the next left from memory and the skyline turned dark as a row of shiny, glass buildings blocked out what remained of the sun. “I’m moving apartment next month.” He eventually said, breaking the silence. 

“What’s wrong with your old one?” She asked with a smirk, her voice normal once again. 

“Nothing.��� He said, thinking. “This one has a home gym.”

“Is that all?” She teased. 

“It was a good price.” He shrugged. 

“You can drop me off at this corner. My building’s right there.” She pointed to the metal sign which hung above the revolving doors of a modern complex he recognised immediately. He had only been inside once, on the day they met, but he remembered the layout of the foyer vividly, and how she had looked when he first caught glimpse of her behind the reception desk. 

“Right.” He said, checking the wing-mirror before tucking the car against the curb. “Do you need a lift home?” He asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt. 

“I can get the bus.” She offered automatically. 

“It’s on my way back to the studio.” He said, hopefully. 

“Okay then…” There was a bout of uncertainty in her voice but she agreed. “I finish at five. I might be a few minutes late.”

“I’ll pick you up here?” 

“Okay.” She smiled, closing the door behind her. He watched to make sure she was safely inside the revolving doors before he pulled away, already anticipating seeing her again later that day.

PART TWO 

(Set a few days following the events of ‘Can we work out together more often?’)

The routine continued for the next few months and slowly, almost cautiously, they had started seeing each other outside of the car and their twice-daily journey. The sex had come as a bit of a surprise to them both, with the first time happening during a tour of his new apartment. Their lips had met in his bedroom and before he knew it, he was pressing her down into the covers, his lips seeking her pubis as he tugged the fabric of her panties away down her shapely legs and touched his tongue to her clitoris. He was down there for a long time, kissing her with as much passion and tenderness as he could muster despite her quiet moans and the rigidness of her body. He worried he had taken things too quickly, until he felt her hands tugging him up, her nimble fingers seeking his erection. Wordlessly, she had rummaged through his bedside table to find a condom, and slipped it on him. Unable to hide his pleasure, he had buried his head in her long, fragrant hair as she guided him inside, stifling his gasp as they moved together. He hadn’t lasted long, despite the barrier between them, and when he came he called her name out loud, both in relief and euphoria. 

They barely spoke afterwards and he didn’t finish his tour. The home gym went unexplored until a month later, where their desire had once again gotten the better of them. This time had been different; she had seemed to want him as much as he wanted her and there had been no latex barrier between them as they fucked. 

The memory of it, of seeing her with his seed dripping down her breasts and on her tongue, still rang through his mind as he pulled up outside her building, unable, as always, to help noticing the chipped paint on the front door which, from a certain angle, looked like a smiling face. As he twisted to turn off the engine, another object caught his eye and he turned to Young-soon with a smirk. “When did you get it back?” He asked, nodding towards the familiar blue Renault parked on the corner of the street.

Her lips pressed tightly together. “Do you want to come in for a coffee?” She asked softly, a little coquettish. 

“If you’re inviting me.” He grinned, feeling his heart skip at the prospect as they unfastened their seatbelts and walked across the street to her building. 

“I’ll pay you back…” She muttered apologetically as she searched through her purse for the house keys. “For the petrol.” She explained, cheeks pink.

“You don’t need to do that.” He shook his head as they headed inside and up the narrow set of stairs which led to her floor. “I’m just curious where you’ve been hiding it all this time.”

“My neighbour has a garage.” She shrugged as she unlocked the wooden door and closed it behind them both. As always when he visited her, the loftiness of the apartment took him by surprise. The building was much older than any he had ever inhabited, built during the days when space was not so much an issue. 

“I thought a new fan belt wouldn’t take that long to fit.” He admitted, realising that a part of him had known or at least strongly suspected that the car had been fixed weeks, if not months before. 

“So why didn’t you say anything?” She asked with a smile, leading him to the circular table which stood in the centre of the living room. 

He shook his head with a cautious grin, not wanting to sound too sentimental or sappy. 

“Sit down.” She gestured softly. “What are you having?”

“Whatever you are.”

He watched as she headed into the adjoining kitchen and switched on the electric kettle. It hummed to life as she spooned instant coffee into two matching mugs, part of a four piece set she had treated herself to with the gift vouchers her parents had got for her birthday. Pastel polka dots adorned the ceramic. 

“Were you scared it would break down again?” He asked, calling into the kitchen as she returned with the mugs. 

“No.” She set them down gently and took her place opposite him on a wicker-backed chair. “It’s nice to have company on my way to work.” She confessed with a blush, before adding: “The radio in my car’s broken.”

His lips turned up at the corners as he blew onto the dark surface of the liquid, cooling it down. “If you got it fixed would you still need me?”

“No.” She admitted, trailing a finger along the edge of the mug. “But I’d still want you there.”

His stomach grew warm as he looked at the table, mirroring her awkward stance but unable to help his lips stretching in a wide toothy grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He listened as she continued.

“I missed you.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I left last week, after the shower…”

“I understand why.” He quickly said, meaning it as he said it.

“It just felt best not to rush things.” She shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. The sound of heavy footsteps as someone from the apartment above descended the stairs filled the space, cutting the silence.

“Do you regret it?” 

“No.” She replied automatically, trying to find the right way of putting it. “I was relieved.”

“Why?”

She met his eyes across the table. “That you could still make me feel like that.” 

His gaze softened with her own as a moment of understanding passed between them. 

“It’s getting late…” She eventually muttered, a little regretfully. 

“I should go. You have to be up early.” He remembered, finishing his coffee and getting to his feet. 

“Thank you.” She whispered, knowing that he desperately wanted to stay but was taking the initiative to be sensible. The last few months had been incredibly hard for her, but she thought things just might be okay so long as they took things one step at a time. She pressed a lingering kiss to his warm cheek, inhaling his sweet aftershave as he hovered by the door. 

“Did you want a lift tomorrow into work?” He offered with a timid grin, a hint of mirth in his voice. 

She smiled in return. “Yes please.”

PART THREE

(Set a few days following the events of ‘Jin’s Bachelor/Stag Party’)

“What’s wrong with the pink dress?” Jungkook asked as discordant scraping of metal against metal filled his ears. Young-soon was pushing a row of coat hangers aside on the narrow rail, trying to view the garments which hung there. The boutique was small and, thankfully, almost deserted considering it was a weekend. 

“With the frills?” She asked, turning to him as her hand hovered on the thin fabric of a cerulean blue dress which had stood out to her among the others. 

“Yeah.” He shrugged. 

She rolled her eyes, turning back to the garment which she picked delicately from the hanger, draping it over her forearm. “I wore it to my aunt’s sixtieth birthday party…” She murmured, walking towards the pink velvet curtain which framed the store’s single fitting room. She pulled it closed behind her as she faced the full length mirror. “I thought I should probably buy something new.” Slipping off her sweater, she turned to the buckle of her jeans. “And I hate it.” She muttered under her breath. 

“Do you want to know who's the best man?” Jungkook called through the barrier of the curtain, observing the sound of a zipper being undone. 

“You?” She guessed with a grin. 

“No. Yoongi…” He said, absently killing time by peering into a glass cabinet of jewellery and accessories. The glisten of a bridal tiara caught his eye in the centre of the display. “He’s been working hard on his speech.” He finished.

PART FOUR 

(Set in the evening following ‘Jin’s Wedding’)

The evening was naturally drawing to a close as the guests slowly began to filter from the room, the soft, melodic ballad of a long-ago singer filling the space as the last of the remaining couples clung to each other on the dance floor. Jungkook nodded at Jimin and Ara as he passed them, the older member’s hand resting softly against the young woman’s backside as they swayed in time to the music. Both Yoongi and Namjoon were absent, having already gone to bed. The newlyweds were standing by the bar, both finishing a final glass of champagne. It had been a long day and they looked ready to retire themselves. Min-seo rubbed her eyes as Jungkook and Young-soon approached. 

“Are you leaving?” She asked with an understanding smile.

“We’re going to head to bed.” Jungkook confirmed. 

“Congratulations.” Young-soon said to them both before wrapping her arm around the bride’s shoulder in a hug. 

“We’ll see you tomorrow.” The older member embraced the maknae before turning to his girlfriend and repeating the motion. 

“Jin’s going to teach me how to play golf.” Jungkook smiled as they pulled away. 

“Count me in.” Young-soon grinned before waving softly. “Night.”

They passed a tall figure coming back from the ladie’s bathroom in the quiet corridor, her sweet, summery fragrance filling the space. 

“Night Nana.” Young-soon smiled as they passed.

“See you tomorrow.” The other woman grinned, fixing a floral hair grip in the tightly wound curls on her head. 

“I dropped our stuff off earlier.” Young-soon turned to Jungkook as they stepped in the elevator. 

“Did you reserve a twin room?” He asked, knowing she had sorted out the booking. 

“No. Double.” She confirmed with a slight smile. 

“Good.” He whispered as the doors ushered shut. 

The lighting in the bedroom was warm and soft, framing the back of her neck as she brushed her hair over the side of her shoulder, unfastening the hair band and allowing her long brunette locks to cascade across her breasts. He caught her gaze in the bathroom mirror from his position on the bed. “You look beautiful.” He said softly. 

She grinned. “Are you glad I wore this dress now?”

“I couldn’t take my eyes off you during the ceremony.” He admitted, unfastening the top few buttons of his white shirt and pulling the thick fabric from his collar where a few beads of perspiration caught on his throat. 

“It wasn’t me you were supposed to be looking at.” She turned around and quietly shut the door to the en-suite, walking towards the bed. 

“I’m sorry.” He blushed, teeth flashing. “I couldn’t help it.”

She stood in front of him and took his hand gently in hers, running her thumb along his knuckles as he looked up at her. She felt his spare hand reach between her breasts, his fingertips grazing the tiny diamond which hung between them on a thin gold chain. 

“I love you.” She confessed, running her eyes along his sweet, familiar features and welcoming the fluttery sensation in her stomach as she took him in. “I’m sorry I haven’t said that for a while…” She said sadly. 

“It’s okay.” He whispered, trailing his hand from the gentle swell of her cleavage to her neck. “I love you too...more than the whole world.” His voice was earnest and she felt warm all over, not least of all between her thighs. 

“Jungkook…” Her voice was quiet and a little breathy.

“Yeah?”

“Take me to bed.” 

Their eyes locked as his breath hitched in his throat; for a moment he was still, unable to move, and then she felt his arms around her, turning her by the waist and spinning her around as their lips connected. The bedsheets were cool and soft against her back as he lowered her gently onto the covers, their mouths opening against each other while he slowly slipped the tops of her sleeves from her shoulders, caressing her skin with his hands and lips as she unfastened his remaining buttons and eased his shirt from his torso. 

“I love you...I love you…” He whispered as he moved down her body, mouth skimming the smooth material of her dress as his fingers sought the zipper at the side, uncovering her as she gasped above him, the cool temperature from the air conditioning hitting her skin as she wriggled out of the dress. He hesitated, hands clutching the edges of her silk panties as he regarded her expression. She gazed up at him, her eyes dreamy beneath heavy eyelids as he slid them down, pressing his palm between her warm thighs to feel her sex. Her mouth parted and his eyes fell to her chest, to the necklace which lay above the band of her bra. He kissed it softly, running his lips along the mounds of her breasts as he teased apart the petal-like folds of her labia, sliding his fingers along her centre until they reached her opening. 

Breaking away from her skin, he shifted positions to press a lingering, open mouthed kiss to her clit as she unfastened her bra, before straightening up to remove his increasingly tight trousers and underwear. 

“Here…” She reached forward, propping her upper body against the headboard as she eased the fabric away from his crotch, not forgetting to admire the flattering fit of the tailor-made garments before throwing them to the floor with a grin. They moved together against the bedsheets as he nestled between her legs, allowing her help in guiding him. Their moan was mutual as he buried himself as deep as he could, grasping her hips and raising them from the bed to find the right angle. Her eyes scrunched closed as he hit her perfectly; his cock trailing along the swell of her g-spot as he pulled out slowly, before moving back in. He kept the pace slow, savouring her gasps and biting his lower lip as he watched her breasts quiver with each thrust, her sparkling diamond in the centre catching his eye as he felt himself growing closer to release. He tried to hold off, wanting to prolong the sensation as long as possible, and focussed his attention on her clit which he rubbed and massaged sensually between his index and middle finger, knowing he had hit the spot when she moved her hips to meet his hand, her moans becoming louder and more breathy with each passing second. Her chest grew pink as she bit her lip, closing her eyes tightly as she began to shake deliciously beneath and around him. He felt her encompass him, her walls squeezing his length as her orgasm consumed her. It had been so long since he had seen her like this; her entire body consumed with pleasure, and he followed not long after; her pulsating body helping him along as he clutched her breathlessly to him. 

The bathroom suddenly felt like a long way away as he wrapped his arms around her body, slipping out of her as easily as he had entered and moving onto his back. Her breath was likewise ragged as she tucked her head into the concaving space where his shoulder met his neck and ran her hands lovingly along his chest, utterly exhausted. 

His lips found her damp forehead and he pressed a kiss to her, utterly content. “I’m so happy.” He whispered to her, allowing sleep to take him.

***

Please follow the link here to read all of Jungkook’s headcanon universe fics in order

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[how-manygalileos]

and the songbird keeps singing - chapt1

a/n: hey gang, this is the first bit of actual writing i’ve done for juliette byrd, an oc i’ve had in the works for a little while. so yea, this is a little intro to her, idk if this will follow a traditional chapter based system, but we’ll see. enjoy!! :) xx

word count: 2265

the audition

February 2013

Juliette sat outside the small auditorium, her bass guitar in its case sat next to her. She looked around nervously and bounced her knee. She took a deep breath, the final stage of auditions. A couple of other performers were loitering around the same area. It felt like every single one of them was staring at her. Should she be warming up? Thinking about what she might say? Because she was the only girl in that room? Should she have prepared more? The person who called her about final call backs said the pieces she had already would be enough but she couldn’t help but worry.

“Juliette Byrd.” the audition director called out, catching her off guard and startling her slightly. She collected herself and picks up her guitar case, before hurrying into the room. She stood, exposed, on the floor of the black box theatre, a drum kit and guitar amps set up behind her. Brian May, Roger Taylor sat in the auditorium stalls along with who she assumed was a musical director of some sort and the woman who had called her into the room.

“So, Miss Byrd” Brian started.

“No please, call me Juliette - or Byrdie- I don’t mind”, she scolded herself slightly. She just interrupted Brian may. THE BRIAN MAY. She also wasn’t sure why she brought up ‘Byrdie’, it was just a stupid nickname her jazz band director had given her at secondary school. Brian smiled, putting her mind at rest slightly. “Juliette, tell us something about yourself” he continued. Juliette cleared her throat slightly.

“Hi, i’m Juliette, I’ve been playing bass for 15 years, I’ve got 8 years training in both classical and musical theatre singing, acting and dance, I’ve played in jazz bands, rock bands, theatre orchestras and--”

“Juliette” Roger cut her off, “we want to know about you, not why you think you’re qualified”. She felt her cheeks flush slightly.

“Uhh- umm…” Juliette fumbled with her thoughts, “My name is Juliette Devon Byrd. I was born on 18th October 1989 - uh - I’m from Brighton... I like music, nearly all genres, playing it, listening to it, writing it, most everything about it - um - I like cats, I had one called Chester growing up and he would sleep on my pillow most nights… I lived in London for a few years but moved back to Brighton a little over a year ago.”

“Why the move back to Brighton?” Brian asked

“Oh…” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer that, afraid it would result in too much pity, “November last year my mum got sick, she couldn’t work or look after my sister. So I came home to help her out.”

“You have a sister?” Roger asked

“Yeah, -well- half-sister. Her name’s Lauren and she turns 13 in April” by this point Juliette felt more comfortable, more settled into the situation.

“Oh! My youngest turns 13 in April too. How’s your sister finding school?” Roger said, Juliette was glad, and slightly impressed, that the conversation had quickly moved past her mother being ill and she felt she had made a personal connection.

“She’s doing really well, she’s a lot more clever than I am. She’s great at science, really likes biology specifically” Juliette beamed.

“You certainly sound very proud of her.” Brian acknowledged her warm smile and returned it.

“So, shall we try some playing?” the musical director chirped up, “Brian? Roger? And Juliette, if you want to get yourself set up” the two older musicians stood up and walked down to the area where Juliette was standing. Juliette opened her guitar case, pulling out her mint green Music Man StingRay and checked it was in tune. Roger sat at the drum kit behind her as Brian amped up the Red Special, Juliette followed suit, amping up her bass.

“You know Crazy Little Thing Called Love?” Brian said, catching her attention. He had set down the Red Special and picked up an acoustic.

“Of course,” Juliette replied, smirking slightly, before the jam session began. She played well, confident but still with a few mistakes that she put down to nerves. After Crazy Little Thing they played Another One Bites The Dust and then Dragon Attack. After that Juliette was asked to improvise a bass solo, which because of her jazz band experience she was quite good at. Juliette left the final call back feeling quite confident but didn’t want to get her hopes up and risk disappointment.

--

After the final candidate finished their audition, Brian and Roger sat alone in the auditorium for a moment, the other two members of the casting board having left the room already. In the background two roadies were packing up the amps and drum kit.

“What do you think then? Have we got our bassist, Rog?” Brian broke the silence between them.

“I think we might, there’s certainly a couple I have in mind.” Roger answered, “Of course, I don’t think we’ll know for sure until we do a proper performance with the rest of the band.”

“I’ve heard from Deaky,” Brian said, “I sent him an email about it last week, just the final shortlist and their CVs and headshots, that sort of thing… I didn’t really expect to get a response.”

“Well, It was an email about finding someone to, in a way, replace him… I’ve not heard much out of him in years” Roger said crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair slightly, “What did Birdman have to say then? Anything useful?”

“He did have one particular favourite by the sounds of things,” Brian started, “a certain, Miss. Juliette Byrd. She played Scaramouche on the West End, you know.”

“Oh, that was her,” Roger commented, “I thought she seemed familiar.”

“Deaky said that she was his favourite Scaramouche, he’s been to see a few different casts and apparently her performance style stands miles above the rest.”

“Great bassist too, definitely one of the most talented ones we’ve seen today.” Roger paused to think, “At any of the callbacks this week, come to think of it. Quite young though.” This wasn’t incorrect, Juliette was only 23, there were more experienced people they had auditioned.

“But then so was Deaky.” Brian reasoned, Roger nodded in agreement.

--

Juliette sat at the kitchen table refreshing her email over and over and her mobile with a full battery, ready to pick up should it ring. She was supposed to find out today. An email if she didn’t get it, a phone call if she did. At least that’s how it usually went.

“So today’s the day!” her childhood best friend puts her hands on her shoulders. Juliette jumped slightly.

“Katie!” she called out upon realising who it was, “what are you doing here?”

“Your sister let me in, couldn’t miss seeing you on the big day.” Katie had been there every time Juliette was to find out about a part or job she’s auditioned for. She put a bottle of prosecco and a cake box down on the table.

“It’s a little premature for that, isn’t it?” Juliette said, refreshing her emails again. Katie raised an eyebrow at her. “J.” she stated, in a somewhat disapproving tone, “You’ll get it, I know you will. You’re the best bassist I know.”

“I’m the only bassist you know.”

“Shut up. That isn’t the point. Don’t be a smart arse.” Katie said, pointing at her, “You’ll get it, and if you don’t then you have some decent booze to drown your sorrows with and cupcakes so you can eat your feelings.” Juliette shrugged in response and went back to obsessively checking her emails.

“Hey, don’t they only send you an email if you don’t get it?” Katie asks, reaching to close the laptop.

“I don’t know that, every audition process is different.” Juliette replied, reopening her laptop, “Anyway, I’d thought you’d be over at James’, being in the honeymoon phase and all.” Katie blushed slightly.

“I feel this is far more important, today I get to find out if little Juliette I went to nursery with is joining one of the biggest rock bands in the world.” Katie beamed, “Also he has a load of year 2 maths homework to mark, him and Liv said they’d come over later.”

Katie, James, Liv and Juliette had been a tight knit group of friends in secondary school, and tried to see each other as often as they could. Katie worked in a small cake shop in the middle of town, she had dreams of one day opening her own cafe and patisserie. James wanted to be a primary school teacher, he was finishing his final year of training so he was stressed. The main solace he had to distract him from said stress was the blossoming relationship he had started with Katie that summer just gone. Liv was a librarian, she had always liked books so it seemed the natural thing for her to be doing after they finished school. Even though Juliette was back in Brighton, she’d seen less of her school friends than when she was living in London. She was really happy her old friends were there to support her on the day her career could potentially change forever. Juliette refreshed her email a few more times, Katie rolled her eyes and walked over to put the kettle on. Juliette’s phone buzzed on the tabletop. She scrambled to grab it.

New message from Cian O’Doherty: Today’s the day, you heard yet J-byrd? :P

Juliette sighed, what an inopportune moment to receive a text. She had promised Cian that he’d be the first to know, but he was rather impatient. Katie looks over her shoulder.

“Cian O’Doherty?” she asks, “Isn’t that the Irish lad who was the year below us? Played rugby with James?”

“Uhh- yeah,” Juliette said absentmindedly refreshing her laptop, “he’s actually the one who got me the audition.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, he’s a session drummer, he’s got contacts in the industry and stuff.”

“Do you know yet?” Juliette’s sister, Lauren, bounded into the room excitedly.

“Not yet, Laur, no.” Juliette sighed, her sister gave her a sympathetic smile and went to sit at the kitchen table with the other two girls.

A half hour passed, Juliette obsessively refreshing her emails and checking her phone. She felt like she was going a little bit insane. She was about to give up, assuming she hadn’t got it. Suddenly, her phone rang. Juliette froze for a moment.

“What are you waiting for?” Katie practically screamed, “Pick it up!” Juliette reached for her phone and answered it.

“Hello?” She said somewhat nervously,

“Is this Juliette Byrd?” the voice said, she thought it was the woman from the audition, but she couldn’t be sure. There was then a knock at the door. Typical, she thought to herself.

“Yes, I am she.” she hated the way she phrased that, “Lauren, get the door?” she aggressively whispered before putting the phone back up to her face.

“I’m contacting you about last week’s audition for the bassist position...” the woman said, it was hard to gauge what she would say from her tone of voice. Lauren ran back into the room, Liv and James in tow.

“Did she get it? Do we know?” James asked,

“Shhhh!” his girlfriend scolded, “she’s still on the phone.”

“...Miss Byrd, I’m delighted to say that you have the job” Juliette’s heart skipped a beat, a wide smile crossed her face.

“What is it?” Liv asked

“Have you got it?” Katie asked louder, jumping up slightly. Juliette scowls at them and motions for them to shut up.

“...Congratulations, you’re the new member of Queen + Adam Lambert”

“That’s fantastic,” she said excitedly, “thank you so much, that’s incredible. Oh my goodness, I’m so happy to hear that.”

“So you go it?” Lauren almost screeched, Juliette shot a semi-playful glare at her sister who rolled her eyes in response.

“You should get an email in the next day or so with a basic setlist of songs you’ll need to have ready and the upcoming dates of any rehearsals,” the woman on the phone said, “you’ll also get your contract, if you could read through that and get a signed copy to us as soon as possible, that would be great.” Juliette was nearly bursting at this point, she felt like she could cry she was so happy.

“Of course, I’ll get that to you as soon as you can, thank you again so much.” She said grinning.

“It was my pleasure to tell you, Miss Byrd. Congratulations again.” The woman said before hanging up. Juliette put her phone down on the table, smiling widely and happy tears pooling in her eyes.

“I think I know,” Katie started, “but I need to hear you say it.”

“I got it.” Juliette exclaimed, “I’m Queen + Adam Lambert’s new bassist!” cheers and screams of joy filled the room.

“J, that’s incredible!” Katie cried, wrapping her arms around here old friend. James popped the prosecco and poured five glasses as Liv and Lauren joined the hug between Katie and Juliette.

“James,” Juliette called over her shoulder, “only a tiny bit for Lauren, she’s 12.”

“I know, J.” he said chuckling and passing out the glasses, “I’d like to propose a toast. To Juliette Devon Byrd, our new favourite rock star.” he said raising his glass.

“To Juliette Devon Byrd!” everyone chanted in response. Juliette hadn’t felt this happy in a long time, she didn’t think she would ever stop smiling. After the past year she’d had, it finally felt like things were looking up.

#juliette byrd #ofc #queen #queen imagine #roger taylor #brian may #juliette is the loml omg #bohemian rhapsody #john deacon #present day #queen + adam lambert #qal #atsks

[draqcnheartstrinq]

Vitalum Vitalis: Echo

Part X

Peter Parker x Female!Reader

Word count: 1.623 Warning: Sadness?

Hey and hello to everyone who is actually reading this series or just stumbled across. Just to be clear to everyone, this series indeed is a reader insert kind of series. Many might not realise that because the main female character is called “Alive” or “Ali” for short but as told in the first few parts of the series she’s only called like that because THEY DON’T KNOW her real name. You can easily put yourself in the main girl’s perspective because I never fully described any of her distinct features, like skin colour, hair type, eye colour,... Just thought I would let you all know because I’ve had quite a few asks pointing this out to me and saying they didn’t read further because of it. Of course you can choose for Ali to be an OC, it’s whatever you please her to be really. :) Now that this rambling is over: I hope you enjoy

Reminder: this is a slow burn series, don’t expect this to be quick and easy ;)

VV Masterpost | Part XI: Full Body Prosthetic

Two whole days were spent at the side of her own living but sleeping figure. Four whole days was she forced to keep away from Peter, the boy who she wanted to see and speak most, because he needed to recover and get things sorted with himself first, before hearing about all the things Ali wanted to confess to him.

So she decided to lock herself up, with herself as the only company she had, literally.

She often took off her gloves, revealed her metalic hands created by Tony Stark, and stared at them for several minutes in a row. She closed her fake eyes, cut off her fake senses and tried to feel those of the real her, peacefully sleeping on the bed. She guided her mechanic fingers through the real her’s hair, attempting to untangle the knots.

She wanted to feel all the things she was meant to feel. Touch, aroma, taste, her beating heart,... But she could only feel an echo of them, only a simulation of what it was like to actually live.

No matter how hard she tried, how long she stared at her own unmoving figure to just feel something, nothing came. An echo, not the real thing, never the real thing.

When she had Peter, at least the emotions were there. She had wanted his friendship, even craved it after weeks of having his company and now it was all gone again. She couldn’t see him, wasn’t allowed to. If she had gone against that, they had surely taken away this last piece of reality she got to witness, Tony would have turned off this machinery she was meant to call her body.

“Peter, at least give me Peter back”, she whispered to herself, hearing it like another echo ringing through the air. Her head hung low, her so called “eyes” trained on the tears dripping from her real ones. At least she was able to detect the emotions living inside her. It made her that little bit more human, and being human felt so right.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Cold sweat glistened on Peter’s forehead, his hands wrung in the sheets and his breathing was irregular. As soon as he perceived someone entering the room he sat up, distressed and out of breath, awoken from a bad dream. The fifth in only four days.

The people that were shot kept following him into his sleep every night, the thought of innocent lives being spilled into the corners of the New York’s streets kept haunting him. He really did keep himself responsible for all the deaths that day, whilst everybody told him he shouldn’t.

“Peter, are you okay? F.R.I.D.A.Y. warned me your blood pressure was rising”, the person spoke up. It was Tony, thank god it was just Tony.

“I’m fine, j-just another bad dream.”

“A nightmare you mean? Again?” It hadn’t been a secret that Peter was the embodiment of stress, but never had it been this severe. With the shooting, missing school, not being able to talk to Ned or May and not seeing or speaking to Alive once, he had reached his breaking point.

“Can I please see Ali? I-”, he stopped himself, not really knowing why he wanted her there with him in the first place. He just felt like she needed him, but most of all he knew he himself needed her. “I mean, it’s been four days. I want to see her, have her around again. I’m sorry I just… I… I don’t know.”

“You both need time, boy, you know that”, Tony told him, pitty lacing his words as his eyes lingered on Peter’s pleading and desperate glances.

“I know but… I also know I need her, and for some reason my senses are telling me she needs me too. Please, just, at least tell her I’m okay.”

“Then I would be lying to her, kid.” Tony turned himself around and made to walk away before sighing, “Don’t worry, I’ll go get her for you.”

Peter’s hope shone through his eyes, at only the thought of her being at his side again.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Merely the mention of Peter’s name was enough for Ali to jump up from the chair she had spent her nights in these last few days. She ran past Tony, ignoring the warnings he threw her way, something about taking it easy and not overwhelming the boy waiting for her a few floors down. It’s funny how suddenly the roles were reversed, how now Peter was the one everyone had to take it slow with instead of Alive. She didn’t notice the worried looks in Tony’s eyes, neither did she notice the words he directed to the lonely girl lying on the hospital bed.

The echoes were gone, only Peter on her mind.

She pushed doors out of her way, exclaimed excuses to everyone she bumped into, she even took the stairs because the elevator would take too long.

When she had finally reached Peter’s room and could see him from the other side of the window, her smile grew three times in size.

He noticed her presence immediately, as if a switch in his brain made his attention peek to a thousand and his senses accelerate to at least that same amount. Eyes caught one another, toothy grins appeared and hearts swelled against rib cages. One of those hearts may have still been located on the 6th floor, many floors away, but it thumped just as hard either way from all the excitement rushing through.

Alive hurried inside, not caring about the curious glances that were fixated on her. She reached the bed, took Peter in her arms as if they hadn’t seen each other in years, which it most certainly felt like. Relief overwhelmed her thoughts when she heard Peter’s regular breathing and soft chuckles. He was happy to see her too, his continuous smile and tight hold on her frame were proof of that. They swayed a little in each other’s arms and placed their faces right next to one another’s, noses brushing cheeks.

“Hey Ali”, he whispered right next to her ear. His name was the only thing he heard in response followed by a long comforting sigh.

She slid her hands to the nape of his neck, pushing his head away from her shoulder where he breathed in her sent, so she could look him in the eyes. Finally.

He beamed, he laughed, couldn’t believe the happiness that overcame him when he saw she was okay, that she didn’t kill herself like Tony had mentioned many times. But his happiness was short lived and quickly replaced by concern.

Her hands, they weren’t soft and silky like they were a week ago, the night she saved him. They didn’t hold the same warmth, didn’t caress his neck like they did his wounds.

They were cold, icy cold, hard, painful,...

He pulled away from her grasp, losing the smile that had adorned his lips. His fingers wrapped around both her wrists and forced them away from his skin.

Metal.

Silver metal, shaped like palms, knuckles, fingers.

Peter started panicking at the sight of them, trying to remember when something had happened to Ali’s hands that would explain why they were made out of metal now. Something that would be a sensible explanation for the loss of her own soft ones and the replacement by these machines. He could only imagine the horrible things that were possible answers to his questions, the pain she must have went through.

“Don’t worry,” Alive spoke up, rushed as to not let Peter’s thoughts run in directions they weren’t meant to go, “I’m fine, I’ve always been fine. I’ll tell you everything, just lay back down so you don’t hurt yourself.”

“Hurt myself? These wounds haven’t been hurting since the moment you took care of them, which I still don’t know how you healed them so fast! You’re the one with no hands!” he called out, astonished at how calm she was being.

She chuckled then, because of his wide eyes and agape mouth, the wrinkle between his eyebrows and the red colour that spread over his face down to the beginning of his chest. It looked quite adorable, not to mention ridiculous and out of place. A guy wrapped in bandages, hooked up to a heart monitor and placed on a hospital bed was shouting about how she was supposed to be in pain and thinking about herself. Peter Parker really was something else.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I have hands, they just weren’t meant to come out of their hiding yet, last week.”

He looked at her with a tilted head and confused eyes, not understanding what she was talking about or what she meant by that.

“Let me explain to you, Peter, please. I’ve been wanting to do nothing more than finally tell you what’s going on with me.” Her wrists freed themselves from his grip and placed themselves on his shoulders, resting there and waiting for him to brush them off.

But he didn’t. “You’ve shown me who you are, let me tell you who I really am too.”

“Go on then, love”, he whispered whilst carefully placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer into another tight embrace. The nickname hung in the air like a spell, he was surprised by how easily the word had slipped from his lips. It felt normal and totally right to call her that, not forced or uncomfortable, just normal. She had saved his life after all, it was okay to be calling her “love” now, right?

His arms wrapped around her frame once more and his body relaxed against hers. “I’m listening.”

Part XI: Full Body Prosthetic

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@iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire

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[katyobsesses]

A, J, and M for the OCs!

A- Alexander David Bailey

Alex (or Xander) is the twin brother of my main OC Erin (from One More New Direction)

he has black hair and green eyes and is relatively tall and lean

he and Erin moved to the US from the UK in 2010 after their dad died

he's on the Soccer team at McKinley, mostly just because he understands the sport and no-one else on the team does.

he becomes soccer captain in his Junior year

He bullys the Glee Club (but secretly he misses singing with his sister (their dad was on the West End))

back at his old school he was kind of a nerd who spent lunches in the library talking about books (their mom is an English professor) but he wanted to be popular at McKinley so joined the soccer team

i have a lot more i could say about him... but a lot of it is spoilers... so i might put them in a read more because i want to rant about him and the J oc!

J - Johnathan Daniel Barnes

John joins the Glee Club in S4 in One More New Direction - his audition song is Dream Catch Me by Newton Faulkner - he plays guitar

he is tall and lanky with light brown hair and hazel eyes, usually seen wearing a plaid shirt and jeans with timberlands and a pair of wood effect glasses and a leather satchel - also often seen on his bike

he is sometimes an anxious wreck, but he perseveres through it

he has two older brothers and a younger sister

his family is very catholic, and he is too, but his family is also just highly bigoted - racist, homophobic, etc.

his vibes are teal and orange

I cannot find an M oc except Johnathan's brother Michael... who is just a generic catholic republican white boy, he's not in the story much (yet??? idk)

Okay so now a read more because I need to rant about Alex and John and it is just a whole lot of spoilers, but also One More New Direction is very much a fun (huge) side project and i don't even know if it will ever be finished or get to this point in the story on AO3 (even though i've written a good chunk of it) so...

Alex and John are soulmates.

Alex is the stereotypical homophobic jock who is secretly gay trope and John is his secret boyfriend and they met on the first day at school before Alex even joined the soccer team.

Alex calls John 'Nate' because his and Erin's dad always used the least expected nickname for people - Erin from Catherine, Xander from Alexander, Allie from Rosalie (their mom)

John takes 2 years to join the glee club both because of Alex asking him not to and because of his parents but in his Junior year (s4) he says fuck it, he wants to sing and so he joins!

Alex hates that and they break up for a bit

during this break up time Kitty finds out Alex's secret and they fake date because Alex is the captain of the Soccer team and thus good for Kitty's social status

I realise this sounds very Santana and Karofsky esque...

but yeah Alex and john get back together at some point (idk when exactly yet but before Prom) and in their Senior year (year between S5a and S6) Alex starts to be less hostile towards the Glee club and goes so far as to join the school musical (The Addams Family) as Pugsley opposite Erin's Wednesday (John plays Wednesday's love interest that I've forgotten the name of and there's some drama and misunderstandings due to that)

John gives Alex an ultimatum about their relationship because he's tired of hiding, and he's planning on coming out and moving out of his parent's house as soon as he turns 18 on January 1st. So John gives Alex until them to decide if he's ready to come out with him, or not.

Alex throws a NYE party for the Glee Club (and a handful of his jock friends he thinks he can trust) and kisses John as the clock strikes midnight.

unfortunately his jock friends had invited people, who had invited people, and Erin was too busy with her own drama to keep an eye on every guest, and Josh (the homophobic rugby sophomore in IKAG) basically beats John up for turning Alex gay

then Alex joins the glee club

and comes out at a school wide PSA about hate crimes and the GSA Erin created that year

and he stops pretending

he and John go to the same college to study education

and eventually Alex gets a job teaching English at McKinley and takes over the Glee Club

John is an elementary school teacher

here are some moodboards I made for them both (Alex - freshman year, Alex - senior year, John)

Also also yes... Erin is kind of a self insert that got very far away from me and her Twin is based (loosely) on my own. (One More New Direction is very loosely based off of journal entries I wrote when I first watched Glee (when I was 15ish) and how I would have acted if I was part of the Glee Club)

At the time of writing Alex, however, I had no idea my twin was queer. and since writing Alex my twin had come out as a Transwoman and as bi so... I was obviously picking up on something with her when I was writing Alex!

#ask #i am so sorry this is so rambling and long but i love my OCs with my whole heart #Alex Bailey my beloved <£ #did i realise that a characer in Chris Colfer's book was called Alex Bailey when I wrote him? no #no i did not #but I like the link lol #also alex bailey is apparently a footballer ahahaha #another link! #OMND #thelegendofjenna #jenna 💛